Wildlife Art--Interview with Wildlife Artist Susan von Borstel

Susan von Borstel's wildlife and equine art has graced the covers of magazines and is part of many prominent collections in the United States including the Governor of Idaho, and in collections internationally in Canada, Taiwan, and Saudi Arabia.

Susan was also featured in Western Art & Architecture magazine in 2011 as "One to Watch". Her unique paintings on stone (marble, granite, onyx, travertine, etc.) have a wonderful architectural quality to them.

We interviewed Susan to give art collectors an insight behind the scenes with this talented wildlife artist. 

Fine Art Collector: What inspires you? 

Susan: "Inspiration seems to come to me from curiosity, a great appreciation for the world’s abundant beauty, a built in need to create and relationships with creative people."

Fine Art Collector: What do you enjoy most about the process of creating a painting on stone?

Susan: "I enjoy watching the image develop as the stone dictates. When successful it seems about one third of a finished image is supplied by the patterns, textures and colors in the stone, one third by my paint, and one third is from the viewer’s imagination. Translating nature’s patterns and colors into a visual communication is thrilling to me. I also love to hear people’s response to my work! 

 Fine Art Collector: What is the hardest part?
 Susan: "Not painting so I can attend to business."

 Fine Art Collector: What do you want viewers to take away from your paintings?
 Susan: "I want viewers to feel the connection with natural forces that I feel from the stone. I want it to inspire them to positive endeavors." 

 Fine Art Collector: What are some of the features you feel makes a painting great? 
 Susan: "An interesting composition, good eye guidance through the painting. Values, colors and edges all in service to the composition all help to make a painting great. Truly great paintings seem to have some unexplainable quality that keeps artists reaching for better and better. If an image “speaks” to the viewer and feeds their soul it is a great painting to them."

 Fine Art Collector: "Do you have any advice for artists starting out in their careers?

 Susan: "Just do it! Finish at least one drawing a day and regularly produce a painting, sculpture or what ever your medium of choice is. Read about techniques, try new things, and really look at things as you go through your day. I often memorize tree branching when riding in a car."

 Thanks to wildlife artist Susan von Borstel for this interview. Susan is represented by J Watson Fine Art in Valencia, California. To view wildlife Art by Susan von Borstel and other award-winning wildlife artists visit www.jwatsonfineart.com/wildlife. Commissioned paintings may be arranged through the gallery as well. Contact info: 661 476-7558 or info@jwatsonfineart.com.